JB-4 First build by Cade

[cade711]

Not a fan of the traditional clover leaf/elephant ear tuners? Don't blame you as they can feel a bit clunky.

Those tuners should fit, just might need to enlarge the hole diameters but best to test the fit before using a drill. If you need to drill, run it in reverse and take your time as that stops the drill bit from grabbing in the hole and tearing big chunks out.

Yeah I find them a little exaggerated, plus I already have clover leaf tuners on a precision bass so something different might have been nice.

[Simon Barden]

Or get a simple hand reamer. I find it a lot less risky than using a drill - even in reverse.

It's normally only the end of the hole on the reverse side of the headstock that needs enlarging, there's no reason to enlarge the hole more than is necessary. You can see in the photo that the thickest part of the tuner shaft is part of the tuner body itself. The locking nut screws inside the tuner, so must be narrower.

But as these aren't exact vintage reproduction instruments, I expect that tuner should be a drop-in replacement for the standard kit tuners. I'm sure Adam would have selected compatible equipment, and would have mentioned if any hole widening or thinning bushings were required. You could always drop him an email for confirmation. It would be nicer though if the required hole dimensions were stated.

[cade711]

So yesterday I had a play while still waiting on fresh intensifying coats to dry on the body and neck.
Stepping things up on my flame theme with this Jbass I decided to see how I could use my kit pickguard to a different effect.
I ordered a heavy duty die-cut vinyl sheet with this mortal kombat image and overlayed it using some caution (and much bubble removal. the end result I think looks good for now and hopefully holds up over time. The vinyl isn't thick so shouldn't affect the guard but is very tough/durable so I reckon it will withstand some scuffing.

[WeirdBits]

Finish him!

[andrewdosborne]

This pickguard will look very effective with the body/neck scheme!

Sent from Android Nougat

[Fretworn]

Great job on the pickguard.

[wokkaboy]

nice work on the pickguard Cade, I will have to try your technique cheers
Where did you order the sticky vinyl material ?

[cade711]

Thanks all! Wokka I had a super hard time finding someone who sold vinyl sheets surprisingly, I thought there would be a lot of places but seems I was wrong. I ended up getting this from the UK through Ebay from a seller named 'taylormadeskins'. I couldn't buy a simple sheet, this vinyl was actually sold as a console cover for an old xbox game system. I just chose something that was going to be big enough for me to cut down to size. Luckily for me it was just the right size! I actually got a blue one as part of the set also, which might be handy in case I do a future build.

[cade711]

Cheers for the info Rob! Good luck relocating your Gotohs I'll keep an eye for how it works out if you're updating.

[ThreeBbass]

Cheers for the info Rob! Good luck relocating your Gotohs I'll keep an eye for how it works out if you're updating.

just posted if you're interested ... :-)